7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A summa cum laude collection, March 18, 2005
This review is from: Miskatonic University (Paperback)
Like a previous reviewer, I expected this book to be an anthology of Lovecraft pastiches. Hey, I like them as much as the next guy, but yet another collection of pastiche is nothing to get excited about. I was excited to see a set of stories set in Lovecrafft country, using some of his caracters, places, and books, without necessarily trying to imitate his writing style. The book starts out with a real kicker, "Kali Yuga Comes". Even though it is set in the middle of a series, I was immediately hooked on the intensity of the story and plot device of the return of Kali. Why invent space aliens and impronouncable gods when we have an easily accessible mythology with fanatics and a cult broken up only a few generations ago? And why Kali is there is the real kicker...
"Her Misbegotten Son" is an excellent novella - I was really wound up with the characters. It's been a long time since a mythos tale sucked me in this hard. I know the author has done a superb job when I have to check how the story ends before reading the middle because the tension is unbearable.
"To Be As They" is a vignette showing the relationship between a master's candidate and her advisor when an unusual artist paints an unrequested portrait. The fate of the two lovers is only hinted at, but is both grotesque and repulsive. There are so many ways that this story could have been done wrong, but the character interactions were pulled off masterfully. Much better work than I expected in this kind of collection.
"The Sothis Radiant": as was mentioned before, this is an excellent story. This is what cosmic horror would look like in our day. It's the end of the universe - in slow motion. But not slow enough. After reading this story, I had to put down the book and stare into space for awhile.
"The Play's the Thing" and "Ghoulmaster" just tickled my fancy.
As I said before, the strongest aspect of this collection is taking a Lovecraftian setting and doing whatever the author wants in that universe. Many authors want to write like Lovecraft without understanding what really makes his stories hold together. I have much rather enjoyed seeing Miskatonic University explored in the style of each individual author. I can't recommend this collection highly enough.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good anthology of Cthulhu mythos stories, January 25, 2009
This review is from: Miskatonic University (Paperback)
Miskatonic University is a mass market paperback from Daw, dating back to 1996. I have no idea if there was an earlier or limited edition. I've had a copy for about 5 years but for some reason never got around to reading it until now. Perhaps I read it in anticipation of William Jones' anthology Tales out of Miskatonic University, due any time now from Mythos Books. Unlike Arkham Tales, Miskatonic University owes nothing to Chaosium's rpg Call of Cthulhu. Perhaps because of this, it fares better. Editorial chores were shared by Martin H. Greenberg and Robert Weinberg, who did a fine job of choosing quality stories. This is the duo that gave us Lovecraft's Legacy back in 1990, a pretty good mythos anthology for its time. Physically, the book has held up well over the years and used copies are available for cheap on line. Cover art by Jim Warren is suitably creepy, although not especially memorable. Overall I really liked most of the stories and was kicking myself for not taking the plunge sooner.
A Letter from the President to Incoming Students by Stefan Dziemianowicz serves as an introduction, and is a modestly humorous walk through MU's hallowed halls. I could take it or leave it.
Kali Yuga Comes by Tina Jens (a writing instructor at Columbia College) is part of a series of stories about a secret society dedicated to supernatural investigations. Ms. Jens also edited Cthulhu and the Coeds, a collector's item but really only of interest to VERY dedicated collectors. At first I thought this story was going to be a fast paced, breezy romp of an adventure, but it had a very dark undercurrent and horrific denouement that the blame for which was placed squarely on the shoulders of the protagonist.
Teachers by Mort Castle was a very affectionate (and fitting) tribute to Robert Bloch, who had died only shortly before publication of the anthology. Mr. Caste has edited books on writing horror. Hmmm, lots of writing instructors and editors represented here.
Her Misbegotten Son by Alan Rodgers (editor of the superb McNaughton series at Wildside Press) was, for me, a Lovecraftian misfire. It was well written and I enjoyed the breathless action sequences, but killing Keziah Mason and the Dark Man aspect of Nyarlathotep just did not work. Maybe HPL had Keziah Mason recoil from a crucifix, but Dreams in the Witch House was not his best work.
Scavenger Hunt by Brad Linaweaver (who has a few other lackluster mythos efforts to his name) was pretty darned good! A literature student ends up getting the best prize in the annual MU scavenger hunt.
Black Celebration by Jay Bonansinga (who moved on away from HPL with the success of his horror writing career) was a nice edgy piece about a young man whose pounding rock riffs pierce the veil of reality. It reminded me a bit of Rainey's fugue devil and his fascination with sound as a dimension.
To Be as They by Stephen Mark Rainey is superb, the creepy and effective jewel of the anthology. This story introduces us to the preternaturally gifted painter, Ivan Luserke. With so many years gone by it's not surprising that this story was reprinted in Mr. Rainey's collection, The Last Trumpet.
Second Movement by Benjamin Adams (who co-edited the very enjoyable Children of Cthulhu anthology with John Pelan, and has written some Delta Green stories) was absorbing, about a professor at good ole MU studying the script that composes the Pnakotic Manuscripts. This attracts the unwelcome attentions of a reporter who is not what he seems. I pretty much liked it.
Dreaming of Dead Poets by Jane Lindskold (who has not essayed any other mythosish stuff, as far as I know) was OK, readable if not doing too much for me. A writer and an artist start to have shared dreams or visions. Through this they discover a plot the deep ones have to steal a nuclear submarine and make R'lyeh ascend.
Mandelbrot Moldrot by Lois H. Gresh (who wrote a few mythos stories over the years) was about an AI searching for patterns in ultimate chaos. Pretty good premise, fair execution. It was readable but probably my least favorite story here.
The Smile of a Mime by Billie Sue Mosiman (a new name to me) was pretty good, with good enough prose for me to wish she had written a few more mythos stories. A young student discovers that some of the books found in the stacks at the MU library can be used to cross the veil. Her response is not typical for a protagonist in a mythos story.
The Sothis Radiant by Will Murray (a scholar of Lovecraft's writing) was terrific, showing appreciation of HPL's cosmicism. Why is the observatory at MU locked up, anyway?
The Play's the Thing by Christie Golden (another new name to me) tells about a drama student who has to come up with a dramatic scenario based on published literature and uses his professor's notes on Al Azif for inspiration. Again, I liked it pretty well even if the prose didn't blow me away.
Ghoulmaster by Brian McNaughton pays homage to HPL's ghouls is Mr. McNaughton's vivid, inimitable prose. It is a fine conclusion to a fine anthology. This story appears in the Wildside book Even More Nasty Stories.
So what can I say? I was completely entertained by this book; the best stories are superb and the lesser lights were still quite readable. Used copies are dirt cheap so there is no reason not to give it a go. I liked it better than Arkham Tales or Frontier Cthulhu, if not as well as Dead But Dreaming. I wish I had seen it back in 1996 but hey, better late than never..
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